Love Never Ends , livre ebook

Inspiring Voices - Connie Martin

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

81 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

In 1995, during her senior year in high school, Brandy Martin tragically passed away following a routine surgery. Devastated and heartbroken by the death of her only daughter, Connie Martin was left struggling with the will to live, questioning her own religious faith, and grasping for answers. Love Never Ends is her personal account of an extraordinary journey that begins when a close friend reveals that Brandy has visited her with a message from the other side.Over the next fifteen years, Brandy continued to find ways to communicate with her mother through people and events in ways that her mother could never have imagined. Connies quest to understand her experiences and her belief that her daughters spirit lives on has helped her to realize that even death cannot stop love. In the process, she regained her own will to live and discovered a passion to love others who struggle with grief and loss.

Sujets

Histoire

Love

Love (disambiguation)

Informations

Publié par	Inspiring Voices
Date de parution	10 août 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781462401925
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0000€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

L ove N ever E nds
CONNIE MARTIN AND BARRY DUNDAS

Copyright © 2010, 2012 Connie Martin and Barry Dundas

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Inspiring Voices books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

Inspiring Voices
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.inspiringvoices.com
1-(866) 697-5313

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Cover photo of Northern Cardinal by Howard Cheek
Cover photo of Brandy Martin by Bill Roenne
Cover photo of Brookville Hotel by Diana Dundas

ISBN: 978-1-4624-0193-2 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4624-0192-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012941496

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 09/25/2012
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Prologue You Are to Write a Book
Chapter 1 The Worst Day of My Life
Chapter 2 I Don’t Want to Live
Chapter 3 Am I Going Crazy?
Chapter 4 Visitor in the Night
Chapter 5 Don’t Be Afraid to Sing
Chapter 6 The Woman, the Bush and the Birds
Chapter 7 Have You Been Baptized?
Chapter 8 Medjugorje
Chapter 9 Be Silent Audrey
Chapter 10 Unexpected Visitor
Chapter 11 Another Christmas
Chapter 12 You Figure it Out!
Chapter 13 The Red Bird
Chapter 14 Mystery Friend
Chapter 15 Becoming a Messenger
Chapter 16 He Will Tell the Story
Chapter 17 Was That Clear Enough for You?
Chapter 18 Reconnecting
Chapter 19 Is This Really Happening to Me?
Chapter 20 Why Questions
Chapter 21 Love Never Ends
Chapter 22 The Final Word

A cknowledgements
I have been blessed by many people who have walked with me on my journey over the past 15 years. Each one has played an important role in my story. Some have moved both into and back out of my life in a short time, yet I know they were placed in my path for a reason. My story would not be the same without them. For each person I am incredibly grateful.
To my friend Audrey, thank you for the countless hours that you listened to me when I cried. Thank you for turning your life inside out to help a friend. I will never forget the sacrifice you made for Brandy and me.
To my friend Barry, thank you for being willing to listen, never judging me, and being willing to help me get this story on paper. We both know it would never have happened if God had not brought you to Salina, and our paths had not crossed. A special thank you to Diana, you supported Barry all the way, and helped by taking photos to bring the story to life. Your friendship has been a blessing to me.
Thank you to Michael and Kyla for reminding me that this is an important story to tell. You have often been the voice of reason when I questioned myself. I love you both as if you were my own children.
Thank you to my friend Jane for always being there for me. I know it was hard to believe at times, but you only loved me and never said the word crazy, not even once!
Thank you to Nedra, Carol, Kristin, Ted, and Mitch and to my good friend Trisha for taking time to read the story and help Barry and I get it right! You have been our best cheerleaders!!
And to my friend Kerry, I find it amusing that Brandy would find someone an entire world away and bring us together. You will always be an important part of this story.
To everyone who has encouraged us to write down this story, it could not have been done without your words of encouragement. Thank you to each of you.

Connie Martin
F oreword
I am a skeptic at heart. I am the last person in my family to believe a story is true. I think most things in this world have a logical explanation. I don’t believe in most UFO stories, politicians who promise to lower taxes or sales that appear too good to be true. I do believe there are plenty of scam artists in the world whose only motivation is to separate people from their money. I even address questions of faith with a healthy dose of skepticism. That may surprise you coming from a pastor. It shouldn’t; there are many pastors in the world just like me. Even as we read the Bible, we don’t accept everything as fact. I have learned that there is difference between taking the Bible seriously and reading the Bible literally.
The big question I have asked myself many times is how did I get involved with this project? First, I am not an author. My writing experience has been limited to newsletter articles and seminary papers. Writing is neither my gift nor my passion in life. Second, this book is the kind of story that sends my skeptic radar into overload. Why in the world would I write a book about things that have no logical explanation? The simplest answer is that my friend Connie asked me to help her write her story and something inside me said yes. Something about her story is so compelling and so honest that I felt the desire to help her tell others. I could not say no.
Connie’s biggest concern has been how people will respond to me when my name is on the book. The story we are telling is not mainstream United Methodist theology. There are many Christians who can be very critical of anything that is outside their experience in the church. Some pastors will not understand why I would take such a risk and connect myself to this book. I believe it is worth the risk because of the impact the story has had on my life.
The day Connie sat down in my office to share her story I could tell that she was being as honest as possible. She was not trying to convince me to believe something; she was telling me what she had experienced. I knew that she believed her experiences were real even if she was afraid that I did not. I saw no evidence that someone else was taking advantage of her grief or manipulating her for personal gain. Connie did not go seeking these experiences; they found her. The most important thing I saw in her story is how these amazing events helped bring healing to her spirit. My hope is that they can bring healing to lives of others who are hurting.
As a pastor, one of my concerns is how this story fits into my theology. It will be helpful for you to know that my theology is centered on grace, God’s unconditional love for humanity. I believe there is nothing more important than love, loving God and loving neighbor. When I hear the messages from Brandy, they are consistent with my theology. She cannot stop talking about love. One night I was reading the thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians. It is sometimes called Paul’s love chapter and therefore is read at about ninety percent of the weddings I perform. I often tell couples that it is a beautiful passage for their wedding, but Paul was not talking about marriage when he wrote it. Paul was talking about the most important thing in life – love. Without love we have missed the point; we are nothing. I realized that this chapter reflects Brandy’s messages. She tells her mother the same thing and, ultimately, that love never ends. It is from the Apostle Paul that Connie and I found the title for our book.
This story has also impacted my ministry. One of the most important aspects of my role as a pastor is to minister to families through the death of a loved one. I have two responsibilities when I lead a funeral: to reflect on the person’s life and to share some good news. I have discovered that through Connie’s story I can now speak with confidence about my belief in life everlasting. Resurrection is central to the Gospel. Christians are resurrection people who live in hope that God can make all things new. Resurrection is no longer simply my hope but a reality I believe. God’s love for us is so deep that even death cannot stop it.
This book is Connie and Brandy’s story. It is a story of incredible pain and loss, but it is also a story about healing and love. My role has been to listen to Connie’s voice and to put it on paper. As you read this story, my prayer is that you can open your mind to the possibilities of love and the promise that all of our lives have meaning and purpose in this world and the next.
Barry Dundas
P rologue
You Are to Write a Book
A picture of the Virgin Mary hangs on the wall of the Brookville Hotel, the restaurant owned by my husband Mark and me. I purchased the print at a local antique store. Mark and I had just moved to town when I went exploring some of the downtown shops. Shopping is one of the things I do well, and I especially enjoy antique shops where I can find unique little treasures. I walked into the shop that day and there it sat, as if it were waiting for me. As soon as I saw the picture, I knew that I had to have it. I found the owner and asked if I could purchase the item. It had just arrived in her store, so she had not even put a price on it. I asked how much she wanted for the print, already knowing that I was going to bu